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Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has accused the Government of "not going far enough" to tackle internet child abuse and of cutting the budgets of the protection agency.

David Cameron said he would make sure the police had the resources. But the truth is that Theresa May has cut by 10% the resources for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency - which has identified 50,000 cases of British residents accessing child abuse online, but only around 2,000 were pursued last year.

– Yvette Cooper

She said the Government's failure to "develop workable proportionate communications data" meant the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre cannot track "who is responsible for IP addresses used for abusive child images."

Ms Cooper also called for Mr Cameron to ban depiction of rape in extreme pornography and "stop blocking compulsory sex and relationship education in our schools which could teach all our children zero tolerance of violence in relationships and greater resilience against online abuse."

David Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show the leading search engines "need to do more to help us with this". Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire

The Prime Minister has said he will pursue a change in the law if the leading search engines fail to "act responsibly" and do nothing to stop "enabling" the distribution of child abuse images online.

"I'm concerned as a politician and as a parent about this issue, and I think all of us have been a bit guilty of saying: well it's the internet, it's lawless, there's nothing you can do about it," David Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"And that's wrong. I mean just because it's the internet doesn't mean there shouldn't be laws and rules, and also responsible behaviour," he said.

He said free speech "doesn't mean you have the right to incite child abuse" and added: "If we don't get what we need we'll have to look at legislation."

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Blocking certain search terms is just one part of the solution. Tomorrow, the PM will also set out how the Government will help Ceop (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) and the police to do more to crack down on online pornography and to make the internet a safer place for our children.

David Cameron's announcement calling for search engines to block results over child abuse images is symptomatic of the way the Internet is viewed and treated by policymakers, digital rights campaigners said today.

Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group wrote on his blog:

Most child abuse images are circulated in private networks, or are sold by criminal gangs. Banning search terms seems unlikely to combat the serious activity, which is independent of search engines.

If a list of blacklisted terms exists, then new terms will be invented so that people can find what they want. Thus Cameron invites a game of cat and mouse which is likely to have very limited impact.

The technical challenges and consequences of policies are viewed as less important than the moral purpose justifying for action.

Most illegal child abuse images are hidden and are not available through mainstream search engines, child protection experts said today, as David Cameron is expected to call for search engines to block any results.

David Cameron will tell internet giants they have a 'moral duty' to do more to tackle child abuse images found using their websites. Credit: Daniel Law/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group, which defends online freedoms, told the BBC: "The idea that banning some search terms will reduce the amount of child pornography online is a bit of a mistake.

"While I think David Cameron is very well-intentioned, and of course everybody wants this kind of material to be tackled, we have no real evidence that search engines are the major way that people try to find this material.

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David Cameron will urge internet providers to "step up to the plate" when it comes to tackling child abuse images.

The Prime Minister will say in a speech tomorrow that "splash pages", which tell people if they are attempting to view illegal images, should also direct people to the charity campaign Stop It Now, in an effort to help change people's behaviour.

Prime Minister David Cameron will make a major speech tomorrow on the subject. Credit: ANDREW WINNING/WPA Rota/Press Association Images

Mr Cameron will also warn companies that "legislative options" could be used to force them to comply if they have not made progress on a black list by October.

He was expected to say, "There are some searches which are so abhorrent and where there can be no doubt whatsoever about the sick and malevolent intent of the searcher that there should be no search results returned at all."

David Cameron will tell internet giants including Google they have a "moral duty" to do more to tackle child abuse images found by using their websites.

In a major speech tomorrow, the Prime Minister will call for search engines to block any results being displayed for a "blacklist" of terms compiled by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

David Cameron will tell internet giants they have a 'moral duty' to do more to tackle child abuse images found using their websites. Credit: ITV News

The Government has been involved in negotiations with technology firms over the best way to crack down on child abuse, and the main service providers have agreed to introduce "splash pages" which tell people if they are attempting to view illegal images.

But Mr Cameron will call on firms to go further, with splash screens warning of consequences "such as losing their job, their family, even access to their children" as a result of viewing the content.